


promise me (no promises)

by Jenny_Jensen



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, bughead - Freeform, bughead au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:41:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenny_Jensen/pseuds/Jenny_Jensen
Summary: He makes her a promise she's not sure she wants him to keep





	promise me (no promises)

* * *

When Archie and Jughead begin to repair the wedge that had torn them apart halfway through the summer, as their shared best friend, she’s thrilled.

Betty has no idea what had driven the once inseparable boys to stop speaking for three months; the only thing Archie discloses about his break was that he had spent the entire time working with his dad, and bettering himself at playing guitar, and in typical Jughead fashion, always the conscientious objector by nature, not saying anything to either Archie or Betty, is the most moral, apathetic choice he could have made.

At least to him. But she is a reporter, Riverdale’s very own Nancy Drew, she knows how to ask questions and get answers, so she badgers him constantly, moving to sit beside him, poking him in the ribs, something she knows he hates, she’s the only one who knows that Jughead Jones is secretly ticklish, but he refuses to relent, finally slapping a hand over her mouth in their booth at Pop’s, pulling her close so he can whisper in her ear that some things are just better left in the past. Licking his palm doesn’t gross him out enough to make him let go. A blush rises to her cheeks as his hand eventually falls away, his arm hooking around her neck in a rare, friendly embrace that lasts for nearly an hour, another odd occurrence.

Slowly but surely, they start to regain their well-known status as the Three Musketeers, four counting Kevin, though he’s a little too busy with a certain closeted football player to be around much. They sit together at lunch, and play video games in Archie’s basement, Betty laughing as their arguments get a little too heated, Archie shooting her a grin in response, Jughead teasingly tugging on her ponytail, twirling a curl around his finger.

It’s exactly where they are, squished together on the couch, Archie’s arm tossed across the back of the cushion, Jughead’s knee pressed against her own, controllers in hand, both trying to teach her how to play Mario Kart, Jughead complaining about how Archie kept accidently killing him, she knew it was no accident by the gleam in her best friend’s eye, the night FP is arrested for the murder of Jason Blossom.

Details are still fuzzy, Jughead’s reaction, however, is not.

He holds back a wall of tears behind a stormy expression, not allowing her or Archie to get too close to him. The trio stay up all night, a decision she pays for greatly the next day, but she regrets nothing.

By the time the trial begins, Jughead is gone, whisked away to a foster home in the Southside with three other children. 

* * *

Neither Archie nor Betty have to ask.

* * *

 

Mr. Andrews has already set to work, contacting a lawyer and making many trips to Riverdale County to visit his best friend.

It takes months, but at the beginning of their second semester, Jughead has been re-enrolled at Riverdale High, sleeping on an air mattress across from his red headed best friend.

Betty is shocked when he first steps foot into the hallway.

Her heart stops.

He’s only returned a handful of her concerned texts, their communication so limited, she feels like she doesn’t know him anymore when she used to know him better than anyone.

There’s something different about him, something she can’t quite place.

He’s darker somehow, harder, eyes constantly scanning the floor, as if searching for potential danger, mouth forming a thin line.

What startles her the most is the leather that seems to be permanently wrapped around his shoulders.

Jughead has become a Serpent.

She steps up to him, clutching his sleeve in greeting.

“Jug-”

That’s all she manages to get out before he swings around, both hands grasping her shoulders, flinging her against the wall.

Betty gasps.

He looks furious, a far cry from the boy who lets her borrow his favorite classics, who watches every single movie at the Drive In with her in the back of his father’s truck, no matter what the genre.

“J-Juggie...”

At the sound of his name, the one only she had been allowed to call him, Archie on occasion, though he usually scowled, he seems to realize himself, dropping his hands as if she were on fire.

His eyes widen, his expression frozen in shock as his gaze meets her startled one.

“Fuck.” He rasps, and she’s sure she’s never heard him swear before. “Shit, I... I’m sorry, Betts.”

Without another word or glance in her direction, he saunters off.

Her fingers curl into a fist.

* * *

 

He avoids her after that.

In English, he sits in the back, leaving her alone, at the mercy of Chuck, who takes every opportunity he can to hit on her, at lunch, he stays beside Archie, never saying a word, so she pretends to be interested in the antics of Veronica’s latest shopping trip, casting quick peeks at the boy, who pretends not to notice, even when she stays late at the Andrews’s house to finish her homework, he makes himself scarce, giving Archie one or two word grumbles excuses as to why he won’t be hanging out with them.

* * *

 

A week after their initial confrontation, Chuck ends up with a black eye that the rest of her friends choose to ignore, Veronica throws out promising threats to the boy she barely knows, Archie becomes suspicious, Betty cries, and Jughead finally discovers her deep, dark secret.

* * *

 

“I’m not sure how I would survive Math without you.” Archie admits, slamming his book shut.

Betty smiles. “I’m not sure either, Arch.”

He shoots her a mock warning look, giving her ponytail a gentle tug in response.

“I’m going to bed.” He announces, stretching his arms above his head. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

“I think I can make it next door without an escort, Arch, thanks.”

He rolls his eyes. “See you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.” She agrees, gathering her belongings. “Good night, Archie.”

“Sweet dreams, Cooper.”

She frowns.

Only Jughead calls her that, and she likes it that way.

Sensing her change in mood, Archie rolls his eyes again. “Okay, okay, good night Betty.”

“Better.” She praises, reaching for her jacket.

The over use of the Andrews’s heater makes her second guess her decision to wrap the pink fabric around her shoulders, finishing it with a knot against her waist. She’ll be outside for a minute at most, surely not enough for her to freeze, though she does give the sleeve of her sweater a hard tug, attempting to further hide the black and blue marks indenting her left arm.

Archie shouts his final goodbye from the top of the stairs.

Just as she reaches for the knob, the door swings open, nearly smacking her in the face.

Hands shoot out to steady her, clasping the very place she has been grabbed before in a bruising grasp.

“Ow, Juggie!”

Alarm sweeps across his face, wiping away the unreadable expression that has been there previously, the look he seems to wear in permeance since his stint at South Side High.

“Betty?” He questions. “What’s wrong?”

Betty doesn’t respond, yanking her wrist back with a force she doesn’t know she had.

“I have to...”

She trails off quickly at his darkened, murderous features.

His gaze is glued to her arm, where her sleeve has been pushed upward in her attempt to get away.

“What is that?” Jughead demands. “What the fuck is that?”

“N-Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” He challenges, his teeth gritting together. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Cooper, cause you suck at it. What the fuck is that?”

“A bruise...” Betty whimpers.

“How did you get it?”

She attempts to swallow the lump in her throat. “It must have happened at practice.”

Jughead pierces her with an unfriendly glare, his gaze holding her in place.

“I told you not to fucking lie to me, Betty.” He moves to cage her in against the door, palms kneading into the wood. “What happened?”

She refuses to meet his gaze.

“Betty?”

She can’t tell him.

She can’t tell anyone.

_“Betty.”_

“I have to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Jughead hisses, leaning closer. “Not until you tell me the truth.”

“Jug...”

“Betty, just talk to me.”

_“Jug.”_

_“Betty.”_

She needs to go, needs to get home, for more reasons than one, but she has never been able to out run Jughead, not even in games of tag when they were nine, and they both know it.

So, Betty does the only thing she can think of.

Standing on her tip toes to reach his full height, she closes the remaining distance between them, pressing her lips to his own.

Although surprised, Jughead begins to kiss her back almost immediately, dropping his arms to wrap them around her waist in a lose hold.

When they finally break apart, she holds his gaze in the same way as she carefully reaches for the door handle.

“Betty...” Jughead arches a brow. “What-”

“Good night, Juggie.” She whispers.

His lips press together in a thin line.

“Betty-”

But she’s gone, sprinting next door to her own home, where a tall, dark, looming figure is waiting for her.

* * *

 

Four days.

That’s how long she manages to avoid him. In the classes they share, she sits in the front row, leaving early with the excuse of needing to use the bathroom. For lunch, she goes off campus, dragging Kevin and Veronica with her. She shuts her phone off, draws the curtains in her bedroom tight, and ignores a still suspicious Archie when he asked what had happened between the two. She even stops working in the Blue and Gold office, until Thursday night, after cheer practice. She has to edit, has to prepare the latest issue of the paper for the following morning.

Betty waits for the last of the Vixen’s to leave the locker room, lets her hair fall from its usual pony tail and scrubs her face clean of the carefully applied makeup that had begun to irritate her skin before grabbing her bags and exiting into the hallway, confident that she is finally alone.

God, she should known better, because she knows _him_ , she knows how persistent he can be.

The second the door closes behind her, her belongings fall carelessly to the floor as an arm suddenly loops around her waist, a palm slapping over her mouth, effectively cutting off her attempt to scream.

“Did you really think you could avoid me forever?” A familiar voice hisses.

Betty stiffens.

His hand lingers away, and he allows her to pivot, twirling around to face him.

“Um...” She bites her lip. “Hi.”

Jughead frowns, his eyes darkening at the sight of her cheek.

Betty attempts to swallow the lump in her throat. Why, _why_ had she taken off her makeup?

“You’re going to talk to me.” He commands.

“Juggie...”

“What the fuck is going on, Betty?”

She knows there is only one way to get herself out of this situation, to keep her secret, and protect the only family member she has left, so, she grabs hold of his face, and pulls him down to her height with a strength she doesn’t know she has.

He wastes no time in kissing her back, his own arms reaching for her again, one looping under her thigh, hoisting her up for her legs can bracket his hips, his free hand squeezing her waist as his mouth works feverishly against her own.

When air becomes a necessity, he returns her feet to the ground, eyes lulling shut, looking almost content.

She wants to stay, wants to keep kissing him, but she can’t.

With his eyes still closed, she detangles herself from him and makes a run to the door, pulling it open, only for it to be slammed shut again. She tries the knob. It doesn’t turn. Betty spins around at the sound of Jughead’s abrupt laughter.

“Betty, Betty, Betty.” He drawls, starting towards her. “You caught me off guard once, did you really think I would let it happen again?”

“Who’s out there, Jug?” She demands.

“Although...” Jughead admits, his lips twitching into a smug grin. “Any time you want to distract me like _that...”_

His fingers dance down her left arm.

“I would be more than happy to oblige you, Betts.”

A blush rises to her cheeks.

“Who’s at the door, Juggie?” Betty asks.

“Backup.” He answers, clasping her wrist.

“The Serpents?” She knows him, too well at times. “Really, Jughead, you brought the _Serpents_ to Riverdale? Are you trying to start a civil war?”

Jughead rolls his eyes.

“No one else is here, Betty.” He reminds her.

“How did you know _I_ would be here?” Betty questions, frowning.

Jughead sniggers. “Elizabeth Cooper, I know you better than anyone ever will, even Archie.”

She opens her mouth to deny his words, but there is more than a sliver of truth to them. Jughead always seems to know what she’s thinking, even before she thinks it, the way he offers information for an article she’s about to write, or how he slides his plate of fries across the table at Pop’s, even though he hates sharing his food.

“Betts, I could have gotten you any time this week.” He mutters, close to her ear. “But I knew the best plan would be to wait until you let your guard down, and you did.”

Jughead spins her to face him.

“Who did this to you?”

Betty bites down on her lip, staring at his worn work boots, too ashamed to meet his intense gaze.

“Jug...”

_“Betty.”_ He warns, his tone losing patience, laced with irritation, anger, but also worry, concern masking everything else he must be feeling. “Talk to me, Betts.”

“I can’t.” She whimpers.

“Betty.” A hand moves to firmly lift her chin upward, forcing her to meet his stare. “You’re not leaving here until you tell me who hit you.”

“Jug, I ran into-”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Betts.” Jughead sneers. “I know when you’re lying. You suck at it.”

“Maybe I just can’t lie to you.” Betty whispers.

“You definitely can’t.” He agrees, eyes narrowing. “Fucking tell me.”

“No.”

_“Betty.”_

“I just can’t, Jug.” She mumbles.

If she tells, things will only get worse.

“Fine.” He seethes, releasing her. “Then you can stay here while I go take all my anger out on my first guess. Your dad should be home by six, right, Betts?”

He starts towards the door.

All the air escapes her lungs.

“You know?” Betty croaks.

In a flash, he’s at her side again, cradling her face as he presses his lips to hers with a new kind of urgency.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He demands.

“I couldn’t.” She insists, trying to drop her gaze, but he catches her chin with a single finger, lifting it upwards.

“The hell you couldn’t!” Jughead grumbles, his free hand encircling her left bicep, like he’s afraid she might run. “Shit, Betty, you _know_ my family, you know my dad was the first to break the cycle. You know I would have understood, better than anyone, so why didn’t you fucking tell me?”

A single tear slid down her cheek.

_“Betty.”_ “

He’s the only family I have left, Jughead.” Betty hisses, wrenching away from him. Her father really is all she has left; it’s been almost two years since the cancer took her mother, months since Polly escaped, to have the twins in some safe place that could never be Riverdale.

He’s angry most of the time now, at the loss of his wife, eldest daughter and grandchildren, so he snaps, and Betty happens to be his target of choice, his knuckles a perfect match to the black and blue marks that decorate both of her arms, but when he’s sorry, he is so sorry, tucking her into bed, bringing her home her favorite takeout from Pop’s on the days she has to miss school, kissing the top of her head in the way he hadn’t done since she was little before she finally succumbs to the darkness of a haunting, dreamless sleep.

He loves her, and despite the hurt in her heart, the endless tears and cycle of violence, she loves him too.

Her words have Jughead pulling her close, tucking her into his side, her ear pressed against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat is almost too comforting, and she lets more of her weight fall into him, trusting him to catch her.

“Betty.” He rasps. “He is _not_ your only family. You have Kevin, and Veronica, and Archie... And you have me. You always have me.”

She blinks, staring at him in surprise. “Always?”

Jughead smirks, dipping down to match her height.

“Always, Betts.” He says, and kisses her again.

* * *

 

She has never felt safer.

Jughead is occupying her usual seat, Betty on his lap, face buried into the crook of his neck, both arms around her as his hand makes circles across the exposed skin of her back, where her shirt has ridden up. She’s comfortable, almost too comfortable, and she only breaks away when she realizes just how much time has passed.

She scrambles to gather her belongings, still strewn across the room.

Jughead catches her wrist, pulling her back to their original position. “Where’s the fire, babe?”

There’s no time for her heart to melt over the very uncharacteristically term of endearment coming from none other than Jughead Jones the third.

“I have to go!” She tells him, but his grip only tightens. “Juggie, I need to. I didn’t make him dinner, he’s gonna kill me.”

“You’re his _daughter_ , Betty.” Jughead emphasis with a growl. “Not his personal chef.”

“I’m whatever he needs me to be, Jughead.” Betty tells him quietly.

His eyes darken.

“Not for long.” He grits out.

She knows him, too well.

“Jug.” She whispers. “What are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna get you out of there.” Jughead replies, nonchalance dripping from his tone. “I promise.”

“Jug.” Betty repeats, her ponytail swinging as she shakes her head from side to side. “You can’t promise me that.”

“I can.” He insists firmly. “I can, Elizabeth, and it’s a promise I intend to keep.”

“Please.” She begs, suddenly clinging to him. “Don’t be so rash. I can’t lose you, Juggie.”

Jughead opens his mouth to protest. “Betts-”

_“Please.”_

Sighing, he kisses her temple, his arms tightening around her middle.

“Betty Cooper.” He drawls. “You are never going to lose me.”

* * *

 

He tells her that he’ll take her home, piercing her with a stern look that dares her to even attempt to argue with him. The Serpents are long gone as he tugs her into the hallway after him. He doesn’t confirm or deny the promise he made, and she doesn’t know how to feel.

* * *

 

He gives her his helmet, a crown on the front of it, looking much like the beanie he always wears, rolling his eyes when she attempts to protest, kissing her hard on the mouth to shut her up before she can even speak.

She doesn’t know when he started riding a motorcycle, but she hears him come and go at all hours of the night from outside her bedroom window, a low purr that sounds like great freedom.

Riding the bike is even better.

Her arms stay locked around his waist, and he goes fast, laughing loudly at the squeal that escapes her lips.

He takes the long way home, a decision Betty knows he made purposely, not ready to give her back to her father just yet.

* * *

 

“Open your blinds.” He almost pleads, leaning against the parked bike, a single arm encircling her waist. “Text me if you need anything. I can be over in two seconds, baby.”

“Okay.” Betty agrees, without hesitation. “Goodnight, Juggie.”

“Goodnight, Betts.” Jughead replies, watching her walk to her front door.

The curtain moves, and she knows that she’s being watched, however, her father makes no moves to approach her as she enters the house.

He looks baffled, but more so, he looks startled, as if he has caught sight of the leather permanently wrapped around Jughead’s shoulders.

Without a word, or a slap, or a kick, he brushes past her, his bedroom door slamming shut.

She sleeps soundly for the first time in months.

* * *

 

He doesn’t even speak to her for almost two weeks.

Her bruises begin to heal.

* * *

She goes to school, walks hand in hand down the hallway with Jughead, fingers interlaced, and she wears his jacket at times when her own doesn’t provide enough warmth, for all to see.

They don’t talk about getting together, they just are, trading kisses between classes, embracing one another any chance they get, and Betty doesn’t think she has ever been happier. Veronica is thrilled, Kevin elated, and Archie somewhere in between, but Betty knows he’s coming around.

* * *

 

Jughead doesn’t tell her about the Serpents, doesn’t tell her what happens in the Southside, or why he joined in the first place. Instead, he makes himself a known presence in the Cooper household, joining Betty for dinner, helping her study, watching their favorite classics with Betty settled on his lap despite the length of the couch, which is more than accommodating for just two people.

He always wears his jacket, always meets her father’s gaze as he greets him in a certain, dangerous tone.

Hal is terrified of Jughead, of the Serpents, but Betty is only safe when Jughead’s around.

* * *

 

It’s a Serpent meeting, he tells her apologetically, he won’t be long, and he instructs her to go straight to Archie’s.

She’s only there for half an hour before her father shows up, and drags her home.

* * *

Jughead takes her to the trailer after school.

She hasn’t been there in years, not since they were children, and his mother first left, and even those times were rare.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he catches her wrist, gently, and spins her around to face him.

“I saw your arm.” He growls, tugging her close.

Betty starts to pull down on her sleeve, but he sees her movements, and tightens his grip.

“Don’t, Betts.” Jughead mutters. “Don’t hide from me.”

At his protective tone, she lets him roll up the sleeve of her sweater, exposing the handprint that takes up more than half of her left arm.

His gaze hardens at the sight of the bruise, and he exhales angrily through his nostrils.

“I promise.” He rasps, after several moments of uncomfortable silence.

Betty shakes her head. “No promises.”

Jughead cradles her face, lips forming a thin line.

“You are the most important person in the world to me, Betty Cooper.” He tells her. “I’m not going to stand by, and let someone hurt you.”

In that moment, Betty realizes that she loves him.

* * *

 

She gives him everything that night.

* * *

 

She begs him to take her to the Wyrm.

He refuses.

“Jug.” Betty protests, frowning.

“No, Betts.” He insists, with a firm shake of his head. “I don’t want you involved in this shit. This is my life, not yours.”

“Oh, so I’m not an important part of your life?” She demands.

Alarm sweeps across his face.

“You know that’s not what I meant, Betts...” Jughead begins, reaching for her, but she ducks away. “Betty, c’mon...”

“No.” She says, arms winding around her middle. “You know everything about my life, Jughead, _everything_ , and yet, I barely know a thing about yours. How can we have a relationship if I don’t know any of your secrets?”

A moment of uncomfortable silence passes between them.

He doesn’t reach for her again.

“I don’t know.” He admits.

Betty turns away so he can’t see her tears.

* * *

 

He doesn’t come over that night, and she gets a fat lip that has his eyes darkening at school the next day.

Jughead reaches out to cup her cheek, but she flinches away.

“I promise.” He mutters.

Betty pretends not to hear him as Veronica pulls her down the hallway.

* * *

 

Her father is waiting for her when she gets home, an empty bottle of Whiskey on the table beside him.

“You are just like _her.”_ He hisses. “Sluttin’ it up with Southside _scum.”_

Betty has no idea what he’s talking about, but she reaches for his arm just the same, ready to lead him to bed, so he can sleep it off.

He backhands her instead.

She’s learned not to cry out, only to run, to hide, and pray that he doesn’t come after her again.

He does.

He beats her until she can barely stand, repeating the same words over and over, that Betty is just like _her._

As she fades in and out, slumped over on the cold, hard floor, her head aching, she vaguely comes to the realization that he is talking about her mother, and she decides that she would rather be like her mother than her father.

Suddenly, she is being kicked, once, twice, three times, Hal ordering her to _wake up, god damnit_ , but she can’t comply. She doesn’t want to. “

Juggie.” She whimpers, before the darkness completely overtakes her.

* * *

 

“Baby.” He mutters.

She hears beeping, and it’s almost too loud.

“Betts.” He coaxes. “Baby, come on, let me see those pretty green eyes.”

_Juggie._ She thinks, lids lulling open.

When he meets her gaze, he almost smiles, fingers knotting in her hair as he presses a kiss to her forehead.

“Hey.” He says quietly, as if he can sense the amount of pain she’s in. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.”

“Where am I?” Betty croaks.

“The hospital.” Jughead replies, lips forming a thin line. “Betts, the bastard told them that you were in a car accident.”

She manages a grimace.

“I’m getting you out of there.” He vows.

“Jug, no.” She whispers, desperately gripping his hand. “You can’t.”

“Yes, Betty, I can.” Jughead insists. “I can, and I will. I should have taken you out of there the night you told me the truth.”

“He’s my father, Jughead.” Betty reminds him.

“A father shouldn’t treat his daughter like this.”

“He-”

“If he loved you, Betts, he wouldn’t have landed you in the hospital.” He hisses. _“I_ love you, Betty, which is why I can’t let you live in that house with that son of a bitch for another second.”

She’s pretty sure her heart stops.

“W-What did you just say?” Betty asks, a little breathless.

Suddenly, his face is flushed.

“I... Uh...” Jughead stutters. “I... Well, you know... Oh, fuck it. I love you, Betty Cooper.”

“Jughead Jones.” She returns, a smile threatening to break out across her face. “I love you.”

And then, he’s kissing her, strong, hard and fast, and it’s everything she could have possibly wanted.

They only break apart when a nurse clears her throat.

“I’m sorry.” She says, and she does sound apologetic. “But her father made it perfectly clear that she is not to have visitors.”

Jughead grits his teeth together, jaw tightening.

“Juggie.” Betty whispers.

“I won’t be far.” He mumbled, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head. “And Betts?”

“Juggie?”

“I promise.” Jughead tells her, spinning on his heel.

This time, she doesn’t bother to correct him.

* * *

 

Three nights later, she’s home from the hospital, off of school for a week, tucked into her own bed, with her father playing bodyguard, afraid to let anyone get too close, afraid of someone discovering what, exactly, he has done to his youngest daughter, the only family he has left.

* * *

She’s awoken at 12:59 PM by a palm covering her mouth.

“Shh.” Someone whispers. It’s a girl, but not Veronica, whose voice she would know anywhere.

Her eyes fly open to find said female, tall, skinny, with long brown hair, dyed pink at the ends, tied back into two braids staring back at her in kind concern. She’s wearing a jacket eerily similar to the one Jughead wears, and Betty slowly comes to the realization that this girl is a Serpent, and that thought alone makes her feel both anxious and curious in a simultaneous manner.

“Wow.” She mutters, studying Betty’s beaten face, the black eyes, her broken nose, fractured cheek. “That son of a bitch really did a number on you.”

Betty blinks, unable to respond.

“It’s okay.” The girl promises, and she sounds so sincere, Betty takes an instant liking to her. “I’m Toni.”

Her hand falls away.

“Betty.” She answers, carefully rising, elbows supporting her weight. “Uh, Jughead’s...”

“Girlfriend?” Toni finishes with a grin. “Don’t worry, he talks about you all the time. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too...” Betty agrees awkwardly. “But... What are you doing here?”

A crash from downstairs confirms that Jughead is making good on her promise, and Toni is not quick enough to stop her from throwing the door open, rushing out into the hallway.

Her father is doubled over, very close to the same place his first hit had sent her tumbling to one too many times before, three dark, looming figures standing over him.

“She’s _mine.”_ An all too familiar voice hisses, and her heart soars at his protective tone. He wants her, just as much as she has always wanted him. “And you are _never_ going to touch her again.”

Jughead throws an arm back, his fist connecting with her father’s jaw.

There’s a loud _crack_.

The unmistakable sound of bones breaking makes her inhale sharply, his gaze instinctively meeting her own, eyes widening, mimicking her expression.

“Betts...” He draws out.

“Jug?” The boy to his right asks, but he ignores him, starting up the stairs, nearly tripping over his own two feet to get to her.

“Betts.” Jughead says again, caution dripping from his tone, like he’s afraid she’ll run. “Baby, I’m sorry, I never wanted you to see-”

Instead of running, she uses the last of her strength to wrap her arms around his neck in a vice grip, clinging to him with everything she has left.

“I love you.” She whispers.

He pauses, clearly surprised by her reaction, but a grin finally breaks out across his face, and he pulls her close in a loose hold, being mindfully careful of her bruised and aching body.

“I love you, baby.” Jughead returns, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Can I get you out of here now?”

Betty nods, almost too enthusiastically.

Smirking, he swings her up into his arms as if she doesn’t weigh a thing, and descends the stairs, carrying her away.

She doesn’t spare her father another glance, because Jughead’s right, if he truly loved her, he wouldn’t treat her like this.

* * *

 

He takes her back to the trailer.

Three bags containing her belongings magically appear in the living room the next day, including photographs of her mother and sister. She knows she can’t stay there forever, she knows it, and he knows it too, but for the weekend, they are free to pretend.

She even lets him give her a sponge bath, after a very, _very_ sensual shower.

* * *

 

“So.” She mutters, as he leans in to kiss her again. “I’m yours, huh?”

“Mine.” Jughead agrees, grinning smugly. “All mine, just like I’m yours, Betts, all yours, forever.”

* * *

She moves in with Veronica.

Betty is surprised to find that Hermione Lodge and her own mother were quite close in high school before something, she doesn’t know what, drove them apart, but Hermione, after hearing what, exactly, Betty had endured at the hands of her father, insists that the guest room in their lavish apartment become her very own.

Less than a week later, Hermione and Veronica surprise her with both a cake and the legal documents necessary for adoption. Veronica is the closest thing she has to a sister now that Polly’s gone, and in the days since she’s moved into the Lodge household,

Hermione has shown her unimaginable kindness.

She has the chance to have a real family again.

So, Betty cries, says yes, and then cries a little more, and in every photo Archie takes of her, her eyes are red, puffy, but for the first time in weeks, she is crying tears of joy as Jughead pulls her close, mumbling under his breath that he knew everything would work out.

With a laugh, she whacks at his chest, and he uses the calloused pad of his thumb to dry her tears.

* * *

 

It takes a single call from her boyfriend for Hal to relinquish any and all rights to her.

* * *

She takes the Lodge’s last name for a fresh start.

Only Jughead is allowed to call her _Betty Cooper._

* * *

 

He introduces her to the Serpents in a proper manner.

She’s finally able to thank them for their part in her rescue, and after she beats Jughead in a game of pool with Sweet Pea, and helps Fangs fix a problem with his motorcycle, she knows she has their respect, just as they have hers.

* * *

 

Archie apologizes repeatedly for not knowing what was happening to her.

Betty knows all about his role as the defender, his need to protect her, and Jughead, and Veronica, and she hugs him, telling him there was no way he could have known, reminding him of how well she hid it from everyone, including Jughead, who’s as obsessed with detectives and mysteries as she is.

Archie keeps apologizing.

Betty rolls her eyes, whacks him, and tells him that he can make it up to her by babysitting the children she hopes to have one day, when he’s her brother-in-law.

He finally stops babbling, meets her gaze with a smirk, and admits that he’s glad she has Jughead.

Grinning, Betty replies that she’s glad she has Jughead too, along with him, Veronica, Hermione and Kevin.

* * *

 

It takes months, but she finally finds enough evidence to prove his father’s innocence, implicating Clifford Blossom in the process.

FP comes home.

Clifford commits suicide.

Cheryl finally frees herself from the chaos that is her family, and escapes Thornhill, moving into Thistlehouse with her grandmother as her new guardian. With the support of Betty and those around her, Cheryl becomes a kinder, happier version of her former self.

That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t still like to raise hell every now and again.

Suddenly, she’s dating a certain pink haired Serpent, and then, she’s joining the gang, with a red leather jacket wrapped around her shoulders, and a snake insignia permanently inked across her left hip.

* * *

 

Jughead takes Betty and Betty alone to pick his father up.

As they wait for the gate to open, his arm stays draped across her shoulders in a defensive embrace, and she wears his jacket as further protection, to show any possible prying eyes that she’s taken, that she proudly belongs to the boy and the Serpent standing beside her.

He only lets go to hug his father, though keeps her close, not willing to leave her side for even a second.

Betty’s not sure what, if anything FP knows about her detective work to clear his name, but he embraces her just the same, whispering his thanks, promising her that she will always be under the protection of the Serpents.

* * *

 

Fred Andrews and FP go back into business together.

Jughead eventually moves back into the trailer, but spends many weekends on that same air mattress across from his red headed best friend.

FP stops drinking.

* * *

 

She calls Hermione _mom_ for the first time that summer, and her adoptive mother is not the only one who cries.

Along with Hermione, both Betty and Veronica are a mess on the floor, mascara lines staining their cheeks.

These women are her family.

* * *

Polly sends a single postcard, apologizing for what happened with their father, explaining that she has left the farm with a nameless boy, and moved into an apartment.

Along with the letter is a photograph of the twins, almost a year old. Betty gives it to Hermione, who frames it front and center in their living room.

Polly promises to write again soon, but Betty doesn’t hold her to it.

* * *

 

Hermione takes the girls to New York for a week.

With Hiram facing years behind bars, she frees herself, Veronica, and now Betty from him for good with a few simple signatures on a divorce decree.

She likes the city, she can imagine herself and her friends living here during their college years, but she misses Jughead, misses the Wyrm, and the Serpents, she even misses Riverdale, and tells her boyfriend so during one of their constant phone conversations.

When Jughead shows up on his bike, Archie in his beat up truck, Hermione gives both Betty and Veronica cautious permission to return home with their respective boyfriends.

Betty has her own helmet now, and she wears his jacket again to protect her from the late summer chill, grinning against his back as he weaves in and out of traffic.

She finally feels free.

* * *

Junior year, Southside High closes down, and Betty’s lunch table becomes a little bigger.

Toni joins the Blue and Gold as a photographer.

Jughead is still her best writer.

* * *

 

She still has nightmares sometimes. She wakes up in a cold sweat, her satin sheets, Veronica had insisted, tangled around her legs, and blindly reaches for her phone.

He always answers on the first ring, promising her he will be right over.

Jughead has become a pro at sneaking into the apartment undetected. He kicks off his boots, shrugs out of his jacket, and pulls her close, covering both of them with her comforter as he whispers the same vow in her ear.

“No one is ever gonna hurt you again, baby.”

* * *

 

FP insists on Sunday family dinners, just the three of them, until Jellybean decides to leave Toledo, and return home to her father and brother.

Betty’s not sure she has ever seen Jughead happier.

* * *

With the construction business doing well, FP is able to purchase a modest three bedroom house for his son, daughter and Hot Dog.

Betty’s heart swells when Jughead places a framed photograph of her right beside his bed, admitting that her face is the first thing he wants to see upon waking up in the morning.

* * *

On her eighteenth birthday, he gives her his mother’s ring, telling her that he wants to make it lucky again.

Hermione agrees to the union, but makes her promise to finish college first.

She wears the ring on a chain around her neck for the rest of the school year.

* * *

They meet at Archie’s to study.

Jughead has a Serpent meeting to attend, so she rides with Archie and Veronica, rolling her eyes at the lovey dovey things her friends whisper back and forth to one another, thinking she can’t hear them.

She’s avoided the Andrew’s house like the plague at Jughead’s insistence, and her own fear.

The home she grew up in, the place that holds both beautiful and haunting memories, looks exactly the same.

Archie catches her staring at it first.

“Betty.” He protests, clasping her arm, knowing her too well.

Veronica frowns, clearly concerned. “B...”

“It’s okay, guys.” Betty promises, easing herself from their grasp. “I’ll be right back.”

“Betty.” She says again.

Archie snags her around the waist, holding her back.

Betty retrieves the key from beneath the matt where Alice always kept it hidden, and enters her former home. The outside may look the same, but the inside does not, pictures falling from the walls, the floor covered with dust and empty beer cans.

She makes her way into the living room. He’s there, staring off into space, the TV on, though muted.

“The prodigal daughter returns.” Hal sneers.

“I came to say goodbye.” Betty corrects.

She thinks of their plans to leave Riverdale, even just for a little while, to move to New York, the four core, Kevin too, attending Columbia in the fall. She thinks about the apartment she and Veronica have already picked out, because her sister refuses to do dorm rooms, and the tiny brownstone she is still trying to convince Archie and Jughead to rent for a year.

She thinks of a future without Hal Cooper.

“I bet you came here to say that you hate me.”

“No.” She says, and he finally meets his gaze, surprised. “I came here to tell you that I’m sorry.”

Hal scoffs. “You should be. You ruined my life, Elizabeth Cooper.”

“It’s Elizabeth _Lodge_ now.” Betty replies firmly. Unable to stop herself, she produces the ring still hanging around her neck, showing it off. “Soon to be Jones, in a few years, anyway, and if anyone ruined your life, Hal, it was yourself. Not me.”

His eyes widen.

“You’re marrying _him?”_ He demands.

“I’m marrying _Jughead.”_ She hisses, protectiveness lacing through her tone. “My boyfriend, my best friend, my family.”

With that, she spins on her heel, heading towards the door.

“Betty.”

She stops, but doesn’t turn around.

“What do you have to be sorry for?” Hal whispers.

“I’m sorry that you lost mom.” Betty tells him. “I’m sorry that you lost Polly, and the twins, and me, but mostly, dad, I’m sorry that you lost yourself.”

Much like the night that Jughead carried her from the house, she doesn’t spare him another glance as she leaves for the final time.

Jughead is waiting for her, arms crossed as he leans against the bike. He looks both angry and defensive, but as she approaches him, he only folds her into a hug, pressing his lips to her own in a new type of urgency.

“You okay?” He asks.

She nods, breathlessly.

Jughead arches a brow, waiting for some sort of explanation. “What was that about?”

“I was just saying goodbye.” Betty tells him.

* * *

Polly surprises her for graduation, with her toddler, red headed twins, and her new fiancée, Gary.

He’s nice, Betty decides, good with the twins and her elder sister. She likes him.

Of course, she feels better after Toni runs a quick background check, and Gary comes back clean as a whistle.

Hermione and Veronica welcome Polly, and Gary and the twins into their family without a second thought.

Polly apologizes profusely, and the sisters agree that they are better off without the Cooper name hanging over their heads.

* * *

 

They spend four blissful years in New York, finishing college. Archie is a Music major, Veronica Fashion with a minor in Business, Kevin Criminal Justice, Jughead English and Betty Journalism.

* * *

When they finally return home, Archie goes into business with his father, Veronica opens her own boutique, Kevin is the new Sheriff, Betty proudly writes for the Riverdale Register.

FP steps down as head of the Serpents, and Jughead takes over, balancing gang life with the publication of his first novel about all the trials they have faced.

He buys the apartment above the Wyrm, and lets her decorate it however she wants, though she know he’s secretly thrilled that nothing in their new loft is too frilly or pink.

* * *

Hal dies from his own demons.

Betty attends the funeral, and it is only when she and Jughead are alone, does she finally cry over the loss of her father.

* * *

 

They marry at twenty-three.

FP and Hermione walk her down the aisle per her request. With Veronica as her Maid of Honor, Jellybean, Polly, Cheryl, Josie and Ethel bridesmaids, Archie standing by as Jughead’s best man, Sweet Pea and Fangs as his groomsmen, Betty realizes that she is happy.

“Thank you.” She whispers, low enough for only him to hear, as he pulls her veil back.

Jughead arches a brow, his lips twitching, a grin threatening to escape. “For what, Betts?”

“For promising me.” Betty replies.

He allows himself to smile.

Despite the fact that they haven’t been pronounced man and wife yet, haven’t even said their vows, he leans in, pressing his lips to her own in a soft, sweet kiss.

“Always, baby.” He replies.


End file.
